Three Year War
by ikanobori
Summary: Years after the Naruto series, the Suna village has declared war on Konoha. This takes place from the perspective of a chunin from squad D27, named Ikanobori Umino. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Three Year War**

Alright, before you hardcore fans get on my ass about 'WTF THIS IS NOT RELATED TO THE TIMELINE AT ALL', _I know_. I'm a casual Naruto fan. I do know a good deal about the series, but I only keep up with the English version. This is totally non canonical towards the storyline. Please accept the fact I'm using names from the actual series as well. And they will probably have the same attitudes as the ones from the show. Please enjoy, also. P.S: I _know_ Semper Fi isn't an expression they'd use. OOC. So, yeah. Read the story.

**Chapter One: **

My Name is Ikanobori.

I am Ikanobori Umino. I was born to the Umino clan 24 years ago. My family consists of very few now, after the three year war. It's just me and my brother now. My brother's name is Iruka Umino. My name means Kite. His name means Sea Dolphin. We were not put in the same platoons during the war, unfortunately. You're probably wondering what this 'three year war' was, come to think of it. The Three Year War was declared between the Konoha village and the Suna village due to the assassinations of two important political figures, one in each village. The Suna village demanded war against us, and we had no choice but to accept and fight. The civilians wanted revenge, and with our new policy, which was to give the people what they wanted, we ended up in war. I was assigned to Platoon D-27. My squad leader was the utmost respectable Jonin in Konoha. His name was Kakashi Hatake. He had white silvery white hair. His headband was black and covered one of his eyes, which had been replaced when he was young with a Saringan, an eye that can copy shinobi techniques. He wore a black mask that started at the top of his nose, and seemed to disappear into his black shirt. He wore a green flak jacket, which was a vest worn by all ranks Chuunin through Jonin. I am a Chuunin, and I'm a school teacher at the Konoha Academy. I was put into active duty for the military though during the war. Kakashi was a tall man in his mid-thirties, and spoke in a soft, somewhat condescending yet soothing voice. He was very relaxed.

Another man in my squad was a close friend of mine, named Shikamaru Nara. He was slender, like Kakashi, but not as tall. He was more of the lanky type. He had a ponytail like me, except his hair was black, and mine was brown. He was really apathetic, as well as lazy. He was always saying one thing or another was 'a drag', or 'bothersome'. I liked him, though. We could relate. He was lazy and apathetic, I was lazy, but I cared.

Then, we had Sasuke Uchiha, the corporal of the group, was a very skilled ninja. He was very close to surpassing Kakashi. He was really resilient. He never said anything to anyone, and just ignored pretty much everyone.

Last, but not least, was Sakura Haruno. She's really, really cute. I think I'm in love with her. But, she was in love with Sasuke. My friend Shikamaru told me that it was hopeless. She only pays attention to Sasuke, and that she's been like that since grade school. Damn. Cold.

Anyway, when our squad was assigned, we were told to wait in Fort Morino, for Kakashi to come and lead us to our first assignment. The first battle would be five platoons vs. five platoons, or so we were told. The squads from Konoha would be C-80, V-2, A-64, M-44 and D-27 (us). We were all waiting in the small room at Fort Morino, with two ANBU Black Ops guarding the doors. We were all on high alert ever since the most recent terrorist attack, which was a nerve gas attack two miles from where we stood, at a crowded civilian shopping center. Three ninja died, and twelve were injured severely. 20 civilians died, and 2 were injured. It could've been worse. We were on guard though, and that's all that mattered. Kakashi eventually arrived, late as our CO said he'd be, and he looked us over with a 'they'll do' nod.

"Platoon Delta two-seven," he said, and slammed a folder onto a steel desk in front of the room. The room was lit by old fluorescent lights, so, it wasn't the greatest place to read something. "Sasuke Uchiha…say, I remember you from Squad Seven when I was a teacher…good to see you again." There was an awkward silence throughout the room.

"…Please don't tell me you haven't seen who's in your squad yet…" groaned Shikamaru.

"Okay, then I won't." replied Kakashi, smartly. Shikamaru mumbled something incoherently, and Kakashi went back to going over the roll.

"Uh…Sakura Haruno…cool" he said. "I don't know why they'd put us three in a squad, but, whatever. You two are very skilled."

"Mmm…" sighed Sakura.

"She's probably off in some perverse fantasy about Sasuke" whispered Shikamaru. I looked over at him and nearly laughed, when I saw Sakura's hand smack him in the back of the head. "Hey!" he shouted. "That hurt!"

"Yeah, I got a technique that'll hurt even more if you say something like that again! It's called my knee in your balls!" she retorted.

"That uh…that there sounds like a pretty good technique, Sakura." I said, trying to be humorous, yet impress Sakura at the same time.

"Uh…thanks?" she replied.

_Oh man…that was lame_ I thought to myself, rolling my eyes with embarrassment.

"Um…Ikanobori…Umino?" said Kakashi, looking up from his papers, his visible eye drooping.

"Uh…right here, sir!" I shouted, not realizing how loud I was. I even had the ANBU looking at me. I looked down at the ground, embarrassed. "Sorry, sir. I'm a little…"

"Nothing to be ashamed of, soldier. You and Sasuke are the only ones I don't think are total idiots right now…" I was flattered. I looked up, and my cheeks were red from embarrassment. Sakura glanced over at me, her mouth slightly agape. Sasuke kind of looked at me, as a sign of approval. I didn't have any problems with him; I just wanted to know more about him is all.

"Um…anyway…next up on the roll is Shikamaru Nara…" he continued.

"Right here…" sighed Shikamaru.

"You didn't let me finish" replied Kakashi. "I was going to say don't bother responding, since I know how to use the process of elimination. You don't think I'm stupid, or anything, do you?"

"No, sir."

"Oh, okay then. Squad, let's move outside where we'll meet up with the other four squads and receive your last rites."

"Sir, yes, sir!" we shouted in unison. We filed out the door, one by one, where we met with the four other squads I had mentioned earlier. There were five priests out there, one representing each religion. I was Catholic, so I kneeled down in the fourth line, along with some guys I didn't know. Kakashi was agnostic and just stood there, kind of watching. When the priest got to me, he said three Hail Mary's for me, using his rosary, and gave me communion bread. After our last rites, the sixth Hokage (Konahomaru) walked in front of us, and prepared to give a speech.

"Hello. As you know, you all are going off into a battle against the Suna village. I hope at least you feel honored to kick off this war. But, before I go on to my speech, I must remind you: some of you may not return. All of you may not return. I don't know what's going to happen, and neither do you. Nor does the Suna village, or the Kazekage. But please keep in mind: you are shinobi from the Konoha village. No one can take that away from you. Even if we lose this war, and they destroy our village, no one will forget us. We will leave everything we can for history's sake. I'm proud of all of you. I don't know many of you, but I'm proud of you, anyway. Congratulations. You are warriors. All of you. Don't forget that. Get out there, and kick ass. Semper Fidelis."

"Woo! Hell yeah, sir! We'll send them back crying to that punk bitch they call a leader!" shouted an unknown soldier from the crowd. There was shouting, hooting, and mumbling amongst us. I started a conversation with Shikamaru.

"What a drag…" he groaned.

"Well, at least we get paid. Want to go out for drinks tonight, after this?" I replied, casually.

"I guess so. Look at Sasuke over there, man. Acting all pretentious, just standing there, and looking at the sky. He acts like he's not excited, but he knows he is. Everyone is."

"Well, actually, I'm not really looking forward to this. I'm really nervous right now."

As soon as I said that, one of the shouting soldiers looked over at me and said, "Hey man! That's why you should have gone out drinkin' with us last night, dude! We _all _got laid, dude!"

I narrowed my eyes, and asked wisely, "…Do I know you?"

"Well…no, but still dude!"

"Yeah, exactly. Let's just do this."

"Squad Delta Twenty Seven! Assemble!" shouted Kakashi. We all forced our way out of the crowd, and circled around Kakashi. "As you may or may not know, we're leading, along with Squad Victor Two. Be really careful. If one of you dies, I don't know what I'd do. Actually, yeah, I know what I'd do. I'd go on living and have a replacement for you in a few days. So, never mind. Go ahead and die. It's not really any of my concern."

"That's awfully…motivating" replied Sakura, sarcastically.

"Well, that's not really my job, per se. I just need to lead you guys into battle, and kill a few people. I don't baby-sit you guys. I mean, you're all either 18 or older. Deal with it" he replied.

"Can we please just get on with this?" moaned Sasuke.

"Sasuke has a point, guys. Stop being so immature and let's get out there to do our job!" said Sakura, excitedly.

"_You _were the one that started this stupid argument" mumbled Shikamaru. "Don't get on us three."

"Shut up, Shikamaru!" she shouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I ruin your moment with Sasuke?" he retorted.

"I have a great idea, guys. It's called 'shut up and start the mission'. It's pretty fun" said Kakashi, lazily.

"Hey, Kakashi!" shouted the Jonin leader from squad Victor Two. "I don't know what you're doing over there with your squad in a small circle around you, but I don't like it! C'mon and catch up with us!"

Kakashi sighed, and then retorted smartly, "I'm not exactly sure why you're fantasizing about me and younger men and women, but I don't really question sexual orientation and tastes, unlike you. But, I'll go ahead and 'catch up' with you guys."

The Jonin was speechless, as our squad jumped onto the tree trunks and hopped away deep into the forest. I was jumping along, right behind Sakura, and next to Shikamaru. Shikamaru was a slightly lower rank than me, due to his laziness. I couldn't believe it, though. I was _right behind _the girl of my dreams. She was so beautiful, though. So beautiful, that I was lost in what the hell I was doing, that is, until several senbon tore into my vest.

"Shit!" I yelled, as I lost my footing, and hit my head on a tree limb. I was honestly embarrassed. I could've dodged those! But, no. I was stuck in my own fantasy world about Sakura. I fell to the ground, hard, knocking the breath out of me. She jumped to the ground and hunched over me, and it all felt like a dream, suddenly. Shikamaru, Kakashi, and Sasuke all formed a circle around me.

"Ikanobori!" she yelled. "Are you alright?! That was so stupid of you! Be careful next time!"

"I'm fine!" I half-yelled. I groaned as I got up slowly, and brushed myself off. "I apologize, Kakashi-sensei. I phased out. It will not happen again, I promise."

"Don't worry about it, Ikanbori. It happens to everyone once in a while. Now, let's continue our way to the battle site. That was a cheap and illegal shot by that ass" he replied, softly. We began running on the ground now, with V-2 in the trees, since we were getting pretty close to the battle site. We readied our kunai and shuriken. We finally stopped after about five minutes of constant running, or so, and looked around the battle site.

"Careful…they could be anywhere" said a soldier from Victor squad. Just as he said that, two shinobi with partial turbans around their heads, steel masks around their jaw, and black masks covering everything on their face but their eyes, popped out of the ground. They both had headbands on with the hourglass-like symbol representing the Suna village. Before we had a chance to react, one of them threw out a kunai whip chain, and tried to wrap it around Kakashi. He dodged it by jumping into the air, flipping around, and balancing his chakra well enough so that he could land on it in mid air, and run at full speed towards him. As he did this, though, the second one tried the cut him off by using his steel claws and long robs to blind him and make his flak jacket useless. Sasuke jumped in the middle of this attempt, whipped out two kunai, blocking the claws, and kneed him in the groin. He then proceeded to shove one of the kunai into the ninja's chest, then spin around and slit his throat with the other one. Blood spurted onto Sasuke's green flak jacket, making it somewhat colorful. Kakashi landed three hard kicks, spinning gracefully around after each one, and nailing them into the remaining ninja's face. He flew back, and rolled like a ball for a few feet, when I threw my self forward, and removed a kunai from it's holster on my belt, and as he got up from Kakashi's powerful kicks, I started drawing back the kunai, preparing to thrust my arm forward and dig the kunai straight into his heart, but before I could do so, another Suna ninja appeared in front of me, threw sand in my eyes, twirled around, and kicked me in my jaw. This sent me spinning backwards onto the ground. Blood was pouring out of my mouth, and my eyes were watering from the stinging of the sand. The shinobi, who was obviously a Jonin, turned his head to Kakashi, his brownish robes flowing majestically. He walked over to him, and Kakashi did nothing.

"Kakashi!" I shouted. "Do something! He'll kill you!" He simply stood there like a fool. That's when I learned that he had Kakashi in some kind of paralysis jutsu. He removed a windmill shurikan from his back, twirled it around, and cut off Kakashi's head. "No!" I shouted. I ran forward screaming, "I'll kill you, you heartless bastard!" I jumped in the air, kicked him three times, and then tried shoving a kunai into his face. He simply stood there unphased, grabbed my wrist, squeezed it, and kneed me in the stomach. He threw me in the air, and when I landed about midway, he kicked me in the stomach. I flew and hit a tree, leaving an almost cartoon-like impact of me there. I slid down, and noticed Kakashi had turned into a log. Everyone's focus was on that log. What the _hell_ happened? Just then, Kakashi appeared behind the Jonin, and whispered 'fool', then snapped his neck quickly and precisely. He had used the replacement jutsu to fool the Jonin into thinking he was falling for the paralysis jutsu! My attention turned back to the ninja I was aiming to kill. He was still there, trying to recover from Kakashi's kicks, and I forced myself up from the blow I receive by the Jonin earlier. My back was killing me, and my stomach had some internal bleeding. I vomited up blood and I had a sense of inertia as I got up and felt really woozy for a second. I forced myself to concentrate. He was still getting up, and readying his kunai whip chain for a second strike. Why was no one doing anything? I could barely fight this guy. I knew he was in better shape than me. I turned my head to everyone else. More shinobi had appeared out of the woods! They were fighting like madmen against a helpless Victor squad, and the only thing I could do was aim for this one guy. Damn it! But I had to do something. That whip chain was deadlier than any weapon we were armed with. I charged him and yelled out a battle cry. He simply ignored me and tried to steady his weapon. I jumped in the air as he fired off his whip chain into the trees. He wouldn't be able to turn in time. I had him locked. I threw myself and my kunai onto his back, and shoved it as far as it would go into him. He wasn't dead! What the hell? I just shoved it nearly right through him. I couldn't let this distract me. I rolled over and under him, then elbowed him in the stomach. This elevated him a few feet. I turned around quickly, and threw a backfist into his jaw, crushing it partially. I then kicked him square in the chest, shoving him back a few feet. I then proceeded to jump back, and throw three shurikan directly into his chest, penetrating his armor, and hitting his vital organs. He groaned and coughed, spewing blood out of the holes in his mask. He couldn't breathe. Idiot should've removed his mask in case of something like that. He fell to his knees, but fired another whip chain. It missed me, slashing my arm, and flew into the trees. The Jonin leading Victor squad had his back turned the whole time, the whip chain sliced through him like a knife through melted butter, and he fell out of the tree and onto the ground. His opponent, another Jonin from one of the squads had emerged victorious. A thin smile spread across his face. I was in shock.

"No!" I shouted. I ran towards him, hopping along tree limbs, and tackled him to the ground. He was unprepared. "You son of a bitch!" I removed two kunai, and shoved them both deep into his jugular veins. He gasped for air, but there was none for him. "Die." I said without emotion. Blood was streaked across my face and clothing. Kakashi jumped over to me, presumably to check on me. A young shinobi appeared near him, trying to block his path.

"I'll give you a choice. Either leave, and live a full, healthy life, or die right now" he said. The ninja's expression, or what we could see of it, hardened.

"I guess that's a no?" questioned Kakashi. "Fine. Have it your way" he finished smoothly, and without even trying, spun around at an unbelievable speed, and nailed the ninja in the temple, penetrating his skull, and spraying parts of it into his brain. He fell to the ground, seized, and died. "Pity. He looked so young. Anyway, Ikanobori, are you alright?" I said nothing. I simply was smirking angrily in the face of my dead opponent, who had stopped bleeding. "His death wasn't your fault, you know. He wasn't prepared. These two had some sort of pact. Now c'mon. Let's finish up the rest of the bastards here."

"Yes, sir" I said. I got up and hopped back into the trees. I saw Shikamaru. He had locked his opponents' shadows into his.

"Do you realize your mistake?" he asked the shinobi he was fighting. "I'll give you a hint: We're in the shade. Covered by trees. I'm part of the Shika-Inu-Cho trio. My specialty is shadow possession. You guys are amateurs. Well, less room for idiots like you, more room for intelligent, civilized people."

"Shut up you punk kid!" one of them shouted.

"Hey" I said. "Take that back. You uh…don't want to piss this guy off."

Shikamaru chuckled. "No need, my good friend. These punks pissed me off when they got here."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Please, continue with your business, then" I replied, jokingly. He then proceeded to use shadows to crawl up their bodies, grab their necks, and break them, then push them onto the ground to leave them to a slow death.

"Hey, you two!" shouted Sakura. I looked over at her, with a loving expression in my eyes (which was unknown to me at the time). "Uh…sorry, Ikanobori. I didn't mean to yell at you. I meant Shikamaru needed to stop fooling around and help out." Shikamaru looked at me funny.

"Then _what _the _hell_ did the say 'you two' for?" he whispered sharply and condescendingly. I didn't know why she was being so nice to me all of a sudden. Had she finally realized I wasn't trying to act so lame and stupid around her? That I was only trying to impress her and gain her respect (and her love…heh)? I ignored it, and went back to work. We had finished up with about two squads when squads Alpha-sixty four and Mike-forty four showed up at the scene. The attacks suddenly ceased.

"Are you guys alright?" asked the Jonin leader from squad A-64. I kind of knew him. His name was Ebisu. His last name was unknown to me. He wore black glasses, a black headband that covered the entire top of his head, and a black jumpsuit. The only thing he was wearing that wasn't black was his combat flak jacket.

"Yeah…I think we're fine, at least" replied Kakashi.

"Tell me, how many casualties?"

"Two. The Jonin from squad Victor oh-two, and a chuunin from Victor oh-two."

"Hm" said Ebisu. "Well, the men in Victor squad aren't exactly known for their skills. But, still, you guys got the job done, hastily or not." Ebisu whispered into his CB radio to squad Charlie eighty (C-80), to come on in. They materialized out of nowhere in front of us. We all knew the leader from this squad. He had the nine tailed fox inside of him. His name was Naruto Uzumaki.

"What's going on, guys?" he said, happily.

"Naruto, there's really nothing to smile about" said Sasuke. "We have two dead, plenty of injured, and we still have three squads to go."

"Eh, you've always been the pessimist, Sasuke" Naruto replied, smartly. "Look on the bright side. Three is less than five!"

"Yes, Naruto, your math skills _are _amazing" replied Kakashi, sarcastically. "But three squads doesn't just mean three people. Three squads means _fifteen_ people."

"So what?!" he shouted. "Bring 'em on! I'm not scared!" Just then, a mysterious figure dressed in all black with purple flowing robes appeared behind him. He had grey skin, and long black hair.

"So…tell me _nine tailed fox_" he said. We were all in shock. There was nothing we could do. "Does _this _scare you?" He suddenly created a huge snake that loomed down upon us.

"No! Oh God, no!" shouted a chuunin from Charlie squad.

"Aw, re_lax_!" shouted Naruto. "There's nothing to be worried about."

"Sir! With all due respect, are you insane, or something?! That's Orochimaru! We have to get out of here!" Just then, the snake came crashing down upon us. It killed three members from different squads. One from Alpha, one from Victor, and one from Charlie squad. The rest of us scattered. Everyone was hidden but Sakura. Where the hell was she? I looked around frantically. I eventually saw her. She had been blown away by the large snake crashing down. She was trying to recover, as Orochimaru prepared another strike with his snake.

"No!" I shouted.

"Don't be a fool, Ikanobori!" yelled Kakashi. I didn't listen. I jumped into the open and grabbed Sakura, just as the snake crushed the earth below it. I was hidden with Sakura now. A few of my teammates were in sight, Shikamaru, and Ebisu were the only ones I saw. The rest were on the other side.

"Sakura!" I whispered sharply. "Please! Wake up! We have to retreat. Don't go out on us now!"

She dimly opened her eyes. She looked so beautiful. "…Ikanobori? Is that you?" she asked.

"Yeah…yeah, it's me." I whispered happily.

"You saved me…"

"Yeah…I guess so" my cheeks turned red, and my eyes closed with embarrassment. This was like some cheesy novel.

"Oh, Ikanobori!" she said, and hugged me. I was caught off guard, and fell backwards.

"Uh…sorry!" I said, rubbing the back of my head. I do that when I'm embarrassed.

"It's fine! Just watch out for those ninja behind you!" she yelped. I turned around. There were three ninja from the sound village.

"Say…Shikamaru, Ebisu" I slyly said. "How about one each?"

"Sounds good!" shouted Shikamaru. We each charged them and eventually killed them using a combination of lethal kicks and punches. When we were done, we all turned around. Time to face Orochimaru. But, when we got out of the woods, he was gone. ANBU had chased him away. The three remaining squads were disposed of by the ANBU, because we were heading _home_.

**Earlier…**

"Orochimaru…I thought we had an agreement. This war would take place between only us, the Suna village, and them, the Konoha village."

"Well, I'm sorry, Mizukage…I just couldn't wait."

"Dammit, I'm sick of this shit! I _said_ don't interfere!"

"Do _not _question my actions! I will join this war whether you like it or not!"

"N-!"

There was silence from the Mizukage. Orochimaru disappeared into thin air.

**Back in Konoha…**

"Well, that was quite an experience…" mumbled Kakashi. "You guys are on leave for a few days, but remember to stay alert…so…bye!"

"Sir, yes sir!" we replied in unison. Everyone scattered, and as I walked away, Sakura caught up with me.

"Oh, hey Sakura. Sorry for acting like a dick earlier, but it w-." I started.

"Shhh…" she covered my mouth up. "Look…there was something I wanted to give you earlier when you saved me, but I didn't have time…so here it is now."

I was in shock.

She _kissed_ me.

**Author's moment!**

Hey, author here. I just wanted to say I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I apologize for the length. I just _couldn't stop_. Gawd. Anyway, this'll be continued in chapter two! See you guys later!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**Go North, Young Kage! The Death of a Legend!**

A young man dressed in typical Suna military equipment, a brownish flak jacket, and a du-rag with a thin piece of metal with an hourglass that represented his village, burst through the wooden door that guarded the room that the Kazekage and Orochimaru had met in to discuss the war against Konoha with each other. The whole room was very dark, which made it somewhat eerie to walk around in, especially during the day. The soldier took his first and final steps into the room, and readied his kunai. He looked around, his eyes showed suspicion.

"Lord Kazekage? Are you alright?" he questioned the permanent darkness. His question was answered as he saw the blood sprayed against the walls and floor, all of which he could barely see. It was obvious that this wasn't the Kazekage's doing. The Kazekage had become weak and frail recently. He was dying. The soldier tensed up, and looked around for any sign that Orochimaru was still there. He found none. He turned towards the door and yelled, "Alright. Looks all clear, sir. Go ahead and let the rest of the squad in."

"Belay that order" hissed a throaty voice from behind. The soldier turned around, and cocked an eyebrow. Orochimaru was standing directly in front of him. Orochimaru spun around, and dug his foot into the soldiers jaw with a mighty kick. The soldier's arms went limp, and his kunai went flying through the air and stuck into the wall. His limp body rolled around on the ground, and he finally landed on his back. Orochimaru walked towards him, and lifted his foot high into the air, then brought it down onto his head, shooting blood across the already slippery floor. Several other Suna soldiers ran into the room in panic, weapons at ready. They spotted Orochimaru looking over the corpse of the single chunin who had entered first.

"You bastard!" shouted one of the soldiers, raising his kunai into the air, and charging at Orochimaru. He swung at him, but Orochimaru countered by crushing his wrist, catching the falling kunai, and stabbing him deeply with it. Blood drained from the soldier's face, as Orochimaru blew him away with a powerful punch. The soldier screamed in pain as every bone in his abdomen was crushed in a painful manner by a single blow. The remaining two soldiers stepped back, as they gasped in horror. Another soldier walked through the door, this one obviously a Jonin, from his relaxed state and battle scars. He was laid back, not concerned in the least bit. He turned his head, and studied Orochimaru's threatening figure.

"…Oh. Hey" he said, casually. "What're you doing here? And where's the Kazekage?"

"I'm afraid he mouthed off just a little too much…ha-ha…" hissed Orochimaru.

"Hmm. Maybe you should consider being more patient, Orochimaru" replied the Jonin. The two soldiers under the Jonin's command looked around nervously. "Oh, I'm sorry" continued the Jonin. "Are you unsure of what to do, soldiers?"

"Ah…yes, sir" The other nodded gravely.

"I have an idea…" Orochimaru giggled.

"Please, do share" chuckled the Jonin. Orochimaru removed a windmill shuriken from his back, and let it fly at the two Chuunin. It decapitated one, and sliced the other in half. Orochimaru and the Jonin shared a laugh, as Orochimaru withdrew his katana and walked towards the Jonin.

"Ah…I'm glad you liked my idea, good friend" sighed Orochimaru, happily.

"Heh…no problem. Well, looks like you're the leader of the village now. Ready to call in the troops?" replied the Jonin.

"Yeah…just one more thing…"

"Oh? What's that?"

"You're fired."

"Wha-?!"

There was silence from the Jonin, as Orochimaru's tempered steel katana sliced through the chest of the Jonin smoothly. Blood beaded onto the shiny samurai sword, as Orochimaru sheathed the sword and headed for the town center, where the villagers had been ordered to gather by the Kazekage almost an hour ago. When he arrived, the civilians began to run in terror. But, as they turned around, they were greeted by thousands of Otogakure troops armed down to the bone in heavy body armor, their faces covered in masks, and flowing black robes that covered almost their entire body.

"Citizens of Suna!" shouted Orochimaru. "Do not be alarmed. I am now your leader. Do not fear me. Simply make a few lines. Women and children, then able bodied men. Those who cannot fight, form a separate line! Your village will remain the Suna village, but will be under my control. Now, go!" The civilians listened and followed his instructions coherently, only because they feared for their lives. The men were led off by the Otogakure troops, and the disabled were taken elsewhere.

"Women…you will serve me at my palace, as your children, only the boys, will be led into a life of _strength_! They will be trained as soldiers until they drop, and will be led into battle at the age of 14! Your daughters will be taught to be proper women, and will serve me as slaves after you are older and unable to work. For those that cannot work because of their age, you will live in a life of luxury! Please, older women, follow the platoon on your right! Boys, form a line behind that firing squad there! Girls! Follow the firing squad behind me. Able bodied women, follow my bodyguards!" shouted Orochimaru. He controlled this area now. No one could stop him. Only one threat remained…Konoha. He was creating a perfect life for himself. An unstoppable army, killing off the weak and old…and eliminating the middleman. So simple. Now, it was time to plan his attack on Konoha…after he received his treatment from his slaves. He laughed evilly.

**Konoha!**

Another scarecrow popped in the way of my kick. Damn it! Kakashi wasn't an elite shinobi, he was a bloody trickster! He wouldn't fight back, he'd simply run. These scarecrows were annoying. It'd been a week long leave, and we all were bent out of shape. Sasuke had gone before me, as well as Sakura. They had a lot of trouble getting to Kakashi on this training mission. He was testing all of us on our speed and fighting skills. Apparently, there was heightened security around Konoha due to Konahomaru's paranoia. He occasionally had a bad feeling about things, and would heighten security around here. It was really annoying. I shook my head to concentrate on the test. I scanned the ground for Kakashi, and spotted him. I readied one of the four kunai on my belt, and charged him. He jumped over me and a scarecrow appeared in his place. I stabbed that by accident. Damn it.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're in no way a true jonin if you keep running from a chunin like me!" I yelled angrily.

"Alright. Fine. I'll face you" he replied from the other side of the training field. I turned around and gave him a peculiar look. "Well?" he questioned. "What're you waiting for? You're not scared, are you?"

"Hell no!" I yelled, and readied another kunai on my belt. I ran full speed ahead at him, and thrust my kunai forward. I felt a throbbing pain in my wrist, and I was flipped upside down for a second. What the hell was going on? Was this a side effect from the medicine the doctor gave me? My question was answered when I came crashing down on my back, and all the breath was knocked out of me.

"What's that you were saying about me not being a true Jonin…?" Kakashi asked, sarcastically. "Listen, you can't let your emotions get the best of you, Ikanobori. That's why you were injured so badly in the battle two weeks ago." He went on with his lecture, and I simply lay there angrily on the ground.

"Shut up!" I shouted, and I jumped behind him, put him in a half nelson, removed a kunai from my belt, and prepared to slit his throat.

"Nice, Ikanobori. Alright, you've won. Good job. Now, get off" sighed Kakashi. I walked out of the nylon nets surrounding the training course, and took a seat next to Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura laid her head on me and fell fast asleep. She had a rough battle with Kakashi today. After Shikamaru's battle, where he had used his shadow possession to capture him and trick him into stabbing himself, Kakashi dismissed us with a long lecture and we all spread out. I headed home and took a nice, hot shower, and went to sleep in my warm bed.

A few hours later, there was a frantic banging on my door. I awoke, irritated, and grabbed a kunai off of my nightstand. My neighborhood wasn't the safest one around, so you never knew who was at your door. I'd had several run-ins with low class criminals, both of which were settled with my katana. I opened the door, very carefully, to be greeted by a sweaty Shikamaru.

"Hey…are you alright?" I asked.

"Get your gear on! The Hokage's dead!" he replied.

"The hell are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

"Hokage! Dead! Hurry up! We got contact there as well!" he barked. I put on some baggy shinobi pants and my flak jacket, along with my katana, and we jumped on roofs until we arrived at the scene. The Hokage had a beautiful mansion, with gates made of tempered steel, guarded by two personally chosen ANBU Black Ops. The front yard was usually lush green grass, beautifully trimmed bushes, and a stone sidewalk with a marble water spout in the middle, carved by the finest stone smiths in the village. The doors had golden handles and pure oak wood. The house was made of gorgeous marble stone. I had no idea what the interior looked like, but it was probably gorgeous as well. All of the above description had been shot to hell. The gates were crumpled and broken; the two ANBU guarding it had been torn to shreds by shrapnel from god knows what. The grass was splattered with blood from chunin who had attempted to stop whatever had attacked and failed miserably. The sidewalk was filled with holes from artillery and the marble fountain had been splattered and water was shooting into the air. The doors were broken down and on fire, the gold creating a stream of melted precious metals. Me and Shikamaru hopped in through a broken window to be greeted by three people dressed in black armor. They had red eyes, and were armed to the teeth with weapons. They rushed towards us, katanas at ready. We were screwed. We didn't have any time to react. Just then, the doors behind them opened, and in walked a man whose face was nearly completely covered by bandages and what was visible was covered by hideous scars. The men stopped, and turned around to look at him. The man disappeared and reappeared in front of us within the blink of an eye. The three men's torsos slid off of their waist, and their lifeless bodies hit the ground.

"Are you two alright?" he asked.

"Uh…yes sir. We arrived as soon as we were informed" replied Shikamaru. We were both still a little nervous after the attack.

"I'm Danzo. I started the ANBU program years ago. I'm guessing you're Shikamaru…and you're…Iruka's brother? Ikanobori, right?" he replied.

"Ah…yes sir" I replied. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Right then. Follow me."

We followed him through the doors, and on our way out we noticed two dead shinobi, one of which I had met before. I felt slightly concerned. In every room, there was either blood everywhere, or the room was totally destroyed. There was always at least one body in each room. Danzo finally stopped in a room where there was a platoon of ANBU and several stretchers with injured shinobi. I noticed one of the ninja in the room was an injured genin. He was bleeding from the stomach, and dark red blood came from his stomach every time he breathed. He wasn't crying, though. The ANBU were discussing their plan for making the mansion secure. It was really dark out; still…I wasn't sure if everyone was sleeping or just dead. It was really eerie. Everyone looked in my direction, and had a concerned look on their face.

"…What?" I asked. My question was answered as two katana were held over my throat. A bead of sweat dropped down onto the blades from my temple. Luckily, I got my adrenaline flowing, and I managed to duck down as he pulled the blades away. I swung my leg at his ankles, knocking him down, and I unsheathed my katana, raised it in the air, and shouted as I shoved it through his neck. He moaned as blood created a wavy pattern on my sword, and he died there, stuck in the wooden floor, slowly and painfully. Three shinobi; Kakashi, Sasuke and an unknown one rushed in though the doors.

"It's all secure, sir" panted Sasuke.

"Good. We will then proceed with our counter attack on the Suna village" replied Danzo, flatly. "Take the shinobi here to actual hospitals…except for the genin."

"What the hell?! Why not the genin?!" I shouted, angrily. I was actually concerned for him…I was surprised.

"…" Danzo paused for a split second. I thought he was actually considering my offer. He was actually staring at me in disbelief, unbeknownst to me. "He's replaceable."

"What the hell is your deal?!" I screamed. I charged at him, and he slammed his palm into my chest.

"Calm down…" he said. Kakashi held me back.

"Ikanobori…don't question orders from this guy, okay? Trust me on this one" I said nothing. I guess Kakashi took my silence as a peaceful form of agreement, as he let me go. We all had scattered away when the sun rose. I got very little sleep afterwards, due to my recurring thoughts about that genin. I decided to get up after about four hours of sleep and I rushed to the Hokage's mansion. There were paramedic shinobi all around. There were bodies and injured people all about. I rushed to the floor I was on a few hours ago, but all the injured people were gone. I rushed back down to the front yard, and I asked the closest paramedic about what had happened to that genin. His answer shocked me.

That kid had died.

"Alright, men, this is it" whispered Danzo, standing high above the rooftops to enter the Suna village. He and his squad had silently infiltrated the village in the nighttime, and since there were only two guards at the gate, they were killed off quickly and proficiently. "Kill your enemies quickly and silently. There are sixteen of us, and hundreds of thousands of them. Good luck" The sixteen ANBU Black Ops soldiers spread out through the early morning sky, simply appearing as soldiers in the Suna military to the few guards up this morning. Danzo and his squad headed for the capitol of the village, where they planned to set a cluster of bombs, which would end up killing many high ranked shinobi as well as government officials. They snuck along the broad side of the building, where they were spotted by two guards. There was a brief pause, as Danzo readied himself for whatever they were preparing. He had the most elite ninja in his squad of four. Three ANBU and him. They could take them on. The two guards rushed the squad, but were both killed in a second, flat. Danzo and his squad continued their quick trek to the area where they'd plant the bombs. But, their plans came to a screeching halt as one ANBU triggered a set trap, and a multitude of dangerous weapons flew into his legs, groin, armpits and equipment. He was dead, but his body hadn't realized it. The squad could afford a loss, but not one as severe as this, because this wasn't just a regular ANBU.

This guy was carrying the explosives. _All_ of them.

"…Oh shi-…"

A huge explosion rocked the entire village, and ANBU SFS-8 members were just finishing off the remaining soldiers at a small training camp within the village. Their orders were to eliminate, without hesitation, anyone or anything that was a possible threat. This means they had to kill the children being trained here. Since when was this a part of training for Suna genin? Everyone began to have a sneaking suspicion that the Kazekage wasn't actually behind this.

"What the hell was that?" asked an ANBU with a white and orange mask.

"No idea…Danzo said he set the bombs to go off after we met back at the gates. Maybe a mistake?" replied another.

"Who knows…but we definitely need to go check it out. Danzo should've been there by now, and he may be hurt" interrupted the leader of the squad, as he removed two katana from an enemy soldier. "And I suggest we go _now_". Hundreds, quite possibly thousands of Suna soldiers poured into the nearly destroyed training camp, and threw down smoke grenades, as two of the four ANBU jumped out of the way and onto nearby rooftops.

"Where's Misyahu and Tenkuu?" asked the one in the white and orange mask.

"No idea. Maybe they exited a different way" replied the leader.

"Or they could still be back there, fighting" he finished.

"If they are, we can't save them now. Let's keep going" the leader said gravely. The pair continued to hop over rooftops as the sound of battles raging followed them. The ANBU in the white and orange mask was mysteriously struck down by an assortment of kunai and shuriken. The leader paused for a brief moment, and watched as his companions' body fall to the ground. It wasn't as bad as watching a mask less ANBU die, because you could see their emotion. However, he was still saddened by this loss. The leader had been a sergeant of several different ANBU squads for six years. He continued on his journey, until he finally arrived at the capitol of Suna. There, he saw a wall missing from the right side of the building, bodies torn apart from an explosion, guards and paramedics rushing in and out of the building, and overall, mass confusion. He decided to sneak over to the scene, where he saw his comrades torn into shreds. Had this whole thing secretly been a suicide bombing Danzo had set up? No. Danzo was brutally honest. He would never do such a thing without notifying his squad. Or had there simply been a mistake while he was setting the explosives? He looked down, and saw a hand wrapped neatly in a bandage. Danzo was definitely dead. Just then, three kunai made a nice plunking noise in his back. He fell to the ground and died. Orochimaru walked forward and stepped onto the ANBU's back.

"Nice try, Konoha…" he mumbled. "But you're going to lose. We'll break you like twigs." He pushed his foot down and snapped the dead ANBU's spinal cord. He laughed.

"Hello citizens and shinobi of Konoha" boomed a voice through loudspeakers. "As you all may know by now, I am your new leader. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I will do my best to defend and lead Konoha to victory in this war. But, I'm afraid I have bad news. The four squads of ANBU that were sent out this morning did not return. We received one last transmission from them, which I refuse to play to pay respect to their sacrifices, but it did say that the attack had failed. I'm sorry I could not do more about this. However, we did learn that Orochimaru was now in control of the Suna village. He has turned it into a dictatorship. Also, the attack was not a total failure. We did manage to kill at least twenty high ranking officials and shinobi. Please, let's all try to move beyond this event, and win the war. That is all. Thank you."

I stopped eating my ramen on my back porch just to hear a message about the death of unknown men. I meant no disrespect, but why should I care about men whose identities were never revealed to the public? The only name released was Danzo, one of the highest ranked officials in Konoha. It was a shame, but I hated the bastard. I mean, he let a kid die. I hadn't forgotten that, most definitely. I went back to eating my ramen without giving the deaths of those ANBU soldiers a second thought. I saw Shikamaru walking around below the apartment balconies, probably looking for me. I bent over the railing and yelled at him. He looked up, and told me to come on down. When I got down to him, he told me Kakashi had called all of us to Fort Morino for our next assignment. We rushed there to find Sasuke and Sakura waiting angrily for Kakashi. He eventually showed up, holding a TV dinner tray.

"Where were you?!" shouted a demanding Sakura.

"…I was hungry, so I decided to stop for dinner" he replied flatly.

"It doesn't take an hour to make one of those!" she screamed. I shivered. "Oh, sorry, Ikanobori."

"Well, at first I was aiming for something fancy, but I didn't like what they gave me. The manager got very angry and gave me a disgusting TV dinner and told me to get out of his restaurant. So I had to eat it on the way over here. It was really horrible food, and it kept doing this weird jiggling thing when I poked it, so I did that for a while, because it was cool. But, then I ate it really slowly because it was gross, and plus I didn't want the manager to get any angrier. But he did. How weird. He didn't even let me use the trashcan" Did I mention Kakashi loved making excuses for being late? Sakura stayed mad at him all through his mission briefing.

"Alright, men…listen up" continued Kakashi.

"I'm not a man!" shouted Sakura, smartly.

"Really?" he questioned. "I honestly hadn't noticed." Sakura pouted.

"Anyway, there are an unknown number of Suna soldiers heading this way. We've been hired to hide and wait for them. If they are here for peaceful reasons, we'll greet them appropriately. If not, and that's a likely if not, we're going to call in backup and attack. Understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" we shouted in unison. We marched our way to the gates of the Konoha, where we each picked a choice hiding spot to wait for the intruders. We ended up waiting for three hours before we heard a slight scuttling noise coming from a few meters away. Sasuke, who was nearby me, poked his head out into the early evening air. The sky had no light peaking through it, just sort of a neutral, low opacity blue. This created a slight darkness amongst the earth, which was dark enough to conceal you with some intervention involved, but you could still be seen easily. The soldier was approaching now, walking slowly, and dragging his feet along as he did so. Had he been injured by one of our squads leaving for a mission? We were all really excited and nervous at the same time. Hopefully, this guy was here for peaceful purposes. He finally stopped about two yards from the gate. A squadron that consisted of two chunin guards, a healer, and a jonin walked up to him.

"Are you alright?" asked the jonin. The man did not move. He simply grabbed the stone hanging from his necklace, and crushed it in his palm. He exploded in a fantastic ball of flame. There was no way that squad survived. My eyes were squeezed tightly shut, and there was a loud ringing in my ears. It stopped eventually, and I opened up my eyes. There were small fires in the forest, none of them really going anywhere due to the dampness of the floor and tree trunks. I rushed over to Sasuke, who was bleeding severely from his knee. I looked down to find a chunk of black steel from that soldier's armor. He was groaning in pain.

"Sasuke! Don't move! I'll help you out of here" I said, urgently.

"Get your hands off me!" he screamed. He jumped up, and ripped out that piece of shrapnel. Blood spurted from his knee, making him almost fall to the ground. He ran out of the forest and began attacking the thousands of troops running into the gates. What was wrong with him? I decided against looking for him, considering he was in the middle of a thousand people that would kill me without a second thought. I jumped across the forest path and found Kakashi, Sakura and Shikamaru. They were unharmed.

"Good to see you're alright, Ikanobori" said Kakashi. He wasn't being sarcastic, either. "Where's Sasuke?"

"I don't know…he ran out into the path trying to intercept Suna soldiers…I lost track of him after that" I replied.

"Idiot!" shouted Kakashi, angrily. "We've got to find him! The Hokage is holding them off from inside the village. Let's check there, first. It's way too dangerous to split up." We hopped along the trees into the village, and finally made it to where the Hokage was holding off the Suna troops. He was _destroying _them. They were flying in every direction from small blows he was delivering. Naruto was truly fit to be a Hokage. The troops were soon defeated, all either horribly injured or dead. This was a truly vicious war. We walked back to the forest to collect the bodies of those who died.

Sasuke was amongst them.

The first casualty of squad D-27. He wouldn't be forgotten.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Finally! A Chance to Prove Myself!**

We all watched desolately as Sasuke's coffin was slowly lowered into the ground. Sakura was on her knees in tears. I wanted to help her, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Kakashi finally did by putting his hand on her shoulder.

"You don't need to cry...he's in a better place now," he stated, apathetically.

"How do you know that?!" she screamed. "You can't prove that! You can only prove he's dead!"

"Because...I'm your squad leader...you should believe everything I say," he replied, sarcastically. "Look, I'm trying to help you. Are you going to let me or not?"

"I understand sir; it's just that...it's hard to believe he's gone,"

"Yeah...it is. He had a lot of talent..."

"Let's split before she starts reflecting on the 'good times'..." whispered Shikamaru.

"Good idea..." I replied. Now, some might say I seem too willing to abandon her, but to tell the honest truth, I loved Sakura. I loved her to death. But, sometimes, we guys need a break from all of the emotion. And believe me, during war time, there was a lot of that on the battlefield. I walked away with Shikamaru to go watch some TV and pig out at some greasy, cheap restaurant, when Kakashi stopped us momentarily.

"Oh," he said. "I forgot to mention, meet at Fort Morino tomorrow morning. We have a new mission, and a new addition to the squad,"

We waved to him and left.

**Otogakure/Suna Village**

"You idiot!" shouted Orochimaru in extreme frustration. "Your mission failed! We lost thousands of troops due to your terrible planning!"

"Lord Otokage, please forgive me...my foresight was terrible. This will not happen again..." replied an Otogakure officer, kneeling before the awe-inspiring sight of Orochimaru.

Orochimaru hissed, "You're right..." he withdrew a kunai from his belt and laughed. "It won't happen again..."

"Oh, thank you my lord!" replied the officer, with great relief.

"Because you'll be fucking _dead_!" screamed Orochimaru, with anger that you could feel, physically, as he shoved the kunai through the musical note on the forehead protector of the officer. It broke the steel on the purple headband inwards, and the kunai penetrated his skull and frontal lobe. The officer gasped for breath, then seized and died. He was foaming at the mouth. He had suffered a seizure before he died. The two guards at the front of the room glanced around nervously.

"Remove his body from my presence at once!" Orochimaru sat at his desk silently for a minute, and looked down at the broken forehead protector that sat in a pool of blood on the carpet of his exquisite throne. He smiled. When the guards returned, Orochimaru gave them another command.

"Send flowers to his family..." he hissed. "His headband just gave me an idea..."

"Yes sir," they replied, and ran off to do Orochimaru's bidding.

**Area Unknown**

"So, let me process what you're saying, exactly," mumbled Itachi Uchiha, a missing ninja, or a ninja who abandons his village, standing there looking annoyed by the Otogakure's request. He had jet black hair, sharingans, and a black robe, typical of missing ninja. "You want us, missing nin who have been dormant for ten years, to bring down the Konoha village?"

"Yes, my liege. You have the entire Land of Sound and our newly gained territories at your service," replied one of the Otogakure. Their faces were to remain anonymous in case they were forced to fight. Orochimaru did not want them to know he was still alive.

"Humph…" mumbled Konan. She was the only female in the missing-nin circle, also known as the Akatsuki. "What do you think, Pein?"

Pein is the leader of Akatsuki, and he made all of the important decisions. He made his decision immediately and a resounding 'yes' finalized the offer made by the Otogakure. Gold coins splashed onto the floor as a token of appreciation.

"We don't want _money_," Pein hissed sharply. "We want _revenge_,"

**Fort Morino, Konoha**

"Alright, so… you guys are all here," Kakashi said, looking over us with the almost condescending glance of his visible eye.

"Yeah…and you're not late for once," mumbled Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru…" sighed Kakashi. "You're not the one who should be talking…anyway; this is our new squad mate, Sol. He's the new corporal. So, make him feel welcome by giving him a big, warm, D-27 welcome!" he smiled underneath his mask.

"Hey," we all mumbled apathetically. We were drained, emotionally and physically, due to this war. We had been on missions constantly for three months now.

"Guys…" Kakashi said, slightly annoyed by our attitudes, "I realize this war, and the death of our teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, is tough. But I got leave passes for three weeks. This is the last battle we'll be fighting for three weeks. During those three weeks, we can do whatever we want. Just stay focused, and we'll all leave the battleground each holding three week passes! Just think, us five marching into those Konoha gates, bloody and bruised, but being praised as heroes. And Lord Hokage walks up to me, looks me right in the eye, and says, 'Kakashi, you're the best damn ninja I've ever seen!' As a token of my appreciation, you can have anything you want in the village! Even women! Including my wife!"

We all drooled at the sight of the passes, considering our regiment during the week consisted of training, small missions, more training, and more small missions. Weekends were our only escape, and even they weren't enough.

"…You guys aren't even listening, huh?" Kakashi asked, rhetorically.

"No," we replied in unison, shaking our heads. We were all relieved to see these passes. Sol didn't look so happy, however. I had a sort of sneaking suspicion about him. He wore a full du-rag Konoha headband, he was pale and wore a flak jacket and shinobi pants, but something just seemed very odd about him. He didn't fit in. We confirmed that during our pre-mission exercises. He seemed too lazy for his own good, stumbling on the easiest maneuvers, and talking very slowly, and not as if he was choosing his words carefully. It was if as he was straining to speak. Even then, he still stuttered. Was he even mentally capable of handling this squad? Kakashi was letting him lead the squad to the mission site. I think he felt that something was up, too. When we stopped in the middle of the forest, he turned around and looked at Kakashi.

"Alright, Itachi, you've had your fun, what did you want?" asked Kakashi, angrily. Sol burst into smoke, and when it cleared, a man in his late twenties or early thirties, who was obviously part of the Uchiha clan, judging by the sharingans, and was a missing ninja appeared. His headband had a slash through the Konoha symbol, showing he'd abandoned it officially, and was most likely part of the Akatsuki.

"To kill you," he said, nonchalantly. If he could say something like that without any hesitation, then it pretty much proved he was a cold blooded killer. Suddenly, thousands of Otogakure troops dropped down from the trees, along with one more Akatsuki member. He introduced himself as Kisame, and his face resembled that of a shark. A large sword was slung over his back, but not just any sword. This one ate the chakra of anything it touched. His skin was blue, his teeth were sharp, and he had gills on his cheeks.

"So, Itachi, these were the kids we were supposed to take out?" he asked, a slim smirk spread across his face.

"Yeah," replied Itachi, somewhat annoyed by Kisame's playful way of intimidating his opponents.

"Mind if I go first?"

"Not at all," mumbled Itachi. "Just don't jump the shark,"

Kisame smiled at this comment as he jumped into the air, his black and red robe rippling in the wind. He unsheathed his sword, which also resembled a shark, albeit with feathers, and bought it down onto Kakashi, who flipped into the air and hit the dirt with a blue, translucent fluid coming out of him that flowed into Kisame's sword. It was eating Kakashi's chakra.

"Damn it!" shouted Shikamaru, who flashed some hand signs and shouted, "Shadow Imitation no jutsu!" A shadow flew towards Kisame, and stopped when it reached him. He couldn't move.

"What the?!" he shouted, shocked and confused.

"Ikanobori!" shouted Shikamaru. "Use something to finish him off! His power's too much for me to hold for much longer!"

"Right!" I looked over at Shikamaru, and nodded. I flashed a hand sign, and yelled, "Wind Style! Tornado Wind Shuriken no jutsu!" Wind began flowing in between my palms, rippling my clothing, and stressing my skin from the force. It was making a high pitched whining noise, distracting my opponents from the real threat. Once the wind had formed into a shuriken shape, I hoisted it up with my left arm, and threw it at Kisame. Shikamaru's jutsu failed to hold, and Kisame managed to jump into the air. My shuriken missed, and killed a few Otogakure in its wake. Kisame was busy preparing his next attack, when Sakura threw a windmill shuriken at him, which he managed to catch. He laughed at our apparently futile attempts to kill him. Just then, the shuriken burst into smoke and turned into explosion scrolls. His entire torso was covered in them.

"Oh my god! Get them off! Itachi, help me!" he screamed. Itachi glanced up at him, and his neutral expression turned into a scowl.

"Fool. You jumped the shark…ironic, wouldn't you say?" Kisame couldn't respond in time, as the scrolls exploded and most likely killed him in a horrible manner.

"One down, one to go," laughed Shikamaru. "You Akatsuki are pushovers. Looks like those ten years were really hard on you,"

"And you assholes are any better?" Itachi spat back. "Kisame was a fool. He couldn't handle Naruto when he fought him as a genin. I'm no pushover. Just watch," he flared his sharingans, and yelled, "Tsukuyomi! Activate!" Shikamaru froze in his tracks. Sweat beaded down his forehead. He looked as if he was in immense pain.

"You…bastard!" stuttered Kakashi, still recovering from Kisame's blow. "you wouldn't…dare do that…to a chunin!"

"Oh, he's a chunin?" asked Itachi, raising an eyebrow. "Interesting,"

"What the hell are you doing to him?!" I shouted, angrily.

"Nothing…we're just playing a kid's game…remember bloody knuckles? Well, it's like that, only more like bloody bodies. See who dies first," he chuckled.

"Let Shikamaru out, you bastard!" I screamed. I ran forward, and attempted to strangle him. He kneed me in the stomach, then punched me in the face, sending me hurling through the air, before my body realized what happened. When it did, I had already hit the ground, and the pain was immense. I could barely move. Shikamaru was now screaming. He wasn't even injured. He was just screaming for no reason. Itachi had him locked in some kind of damned genjutsu.

"Already had enough, Shikamaru?" laughed Itachi. "Pathetic. Only five minutes in the real world, and almost dead of exhaustion. At least your Sergeant was able to last a day. Quite the squad you have here, Kakashi Hatake,"

"You shut up!" cried Kakashi. He charged forward, and punched Itachi in the face, almost knocking him off balance. Itachi recovered, and then returned the hit, with at least three times the force. Kakashi was knocked back, and that's when Itachi did something completely unexpected.

"Hey, Otogakure…" he mumbled.

"Yes sir!" they replied.

"Leave," he ordered.

"Uh…but sir, what if…" they replied.

"There are no longer any hypothetical questions, understand? I've won this battle, and I want to kill them my self," he interrupted. They left without saying another word, leaving Itachi to his spoils of war. He ended the genjutsu he had trapped Shikamaru in earlier, and Shikamaru fell to the ground, unconscious. Kakashi couldn't move after the blow from Itachi. I was slowly regaining strength, but pretended to be struggling, so I could think of a plan. Sakura was the only one who wasn't incapacitated within our squad. She was shaking with fear as Itachi approached her.

"Get…get away from me!" she screamed. Itachi smirked. He leaned in close to her, and whispered into her ear,

"I killed Sasuke,"

She screamed. She was crying. Itachi then kicked her in the face.

"You're pathetic," he laughed. "I haven't even gotten serious yet. I wonder how much pain you can take…" he picked up her arm, and snapped the bone with tremendous force, creating a compound shatter. She screamed again. Itachi kicked her in the stomach. She coughed up blood and could no longer move. Anger flowed through my veins, and I was overcome with rage.

"Stop it! Stop it right now, you dirty coward!" I screamed. Itachi turned around, amused at my reaction.

"Huh…I thought you were hurt too badly to fight me…" he mumbled. "Oh well, more spoils for me!" He leaped in the air, and landed in front of me. He tried to punch me in the face, but I ducked, and punched him in the stomach with extreme force, quite possibly breaking several ribs. His arms flung into the air, and that left him open for a combo. I punched him in the throat, kicked him in the ribs, and then performed an axe kick onto his collarbone. He was on the ground, coughing. I was preparing to nail him with another combo, when Kisame jumped in front of me. His robe was torn up, and his skin was badly burnt.

"Out of my way, punk!" I shouted.

"No…I'm going to prove I'm no pushover," he laughed. He tried to punch me, but I took his arm, and snapped it in half. The resulting fracture ripped his forearm off. His body was weak. Blood spewed across the ground. I kicked him in the jaw, which rattled his body. Then, I flashed several hand signs.

"Chido…RI!" A flashing blue ball formed on my hand, and a sound that resembled many birds chirping emitted loudly from it. I ran forward, and smashed the ball into Kisame. He was ripped apart by the force of it. He made no sound even though his lips moved, as the ball of chakra was just too much for his vocal cords to reach above. Chidori meant 'one thousand birds'. Just then, as I was regaining strength from wasting so much chakra, Itachi's hand slammed into the back of my neck. He loomed over me, and flared his sharingans.

"Tsukuyomi! Activ…" he started. I jumped into the air, flipped, and kicked his jaw upward. He bit his tongue, spewing blood into the air from his mouth. Then, he fell backwards onto the ground. As he tried getting up, I smashed my foot down onto his neck. He was trying desperately to scream, but couldn't. He spewed out blood onto my foot and pants.

"You're done…" I said. I was wrong. At that moment, he teleported, and kicked me in the back. I flew forward, tumbling over and over. He prepared his sharingans again.

"Tsukuyomi! Activate!" he shouted. I couldn't stop it this time. I was looking him right in the eye, and I was trapped in the genjutsu. It was a strange sensation. I was tied to a wooden cross, and at least five of Itachi's clones were standing in front of me with katana. He began shoving them into my stomach. I screamed in pain.

"This isn't real!" I shouted. "It can't be real! You can't kill me!"

"You keep telling yourself that…" Itachi laughed.

"Actually…" I laughed weakly. "If I know it's not real, then my conscience realizes that, and so long I'm aware of that fact, I can't die, or be hurt!"

"Ah, you're trying to confuse me with all that psychological warfare crap. It won't work," he replied matter-of-factly.

"Even so, my team will eventually wake up, and you'd better prepare for an ass whooping then,"

"Or maybe they won't. Maybe I'll call back Otogakure and have them kill your teammates right in front of you. Wouldn't that be terrible? Having your best friends and future family killed right in front of you? I wouldn't enjoy that, would you? I killed Sasuke. But, it's your fault. You didn't stop him. He cursed your name before he died,"

"No! That's not true!" I was angry now. What an arrogant ass. Trying to make me feel as if it was my fault he killed Sasuke.

"It is…I can tell you every aspect about his death. I killed him using this very genjutsu, and I simply disguised myself as an Otogakure. You're pitiful. I killed the entire Uchiha clan, and what have you done? Killed one of your own pitiful teammates. Pathetic. I've seen better academy students than you,"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" I screamed. I was so enraged; chakra was steaming off of my body. I'd had enough. I broke out of the genjutsu, and prepared my next maneuver. However, Itachi was quicker. He fired off an explosive scroll, and the flak from that knocked me to the ground. I managed to throw a few kunai and senbon at him, which stopped him in his tracks. The kunai hit him in the chest, and the senbon tore into his neck. He was weary, but was preparing the genjutsu again. His chakra was dangerously low. He couldn't perform that maneuver without killing himself…which was what he was trying to do. He wasn't going to let a lowly chunin such as I kill a respected member of the Akatsuki. He'd kill himself and me with this next genjutsu. I wouldn't let that happen. I flashed a few more hand signs, and shouted, "Chi…dor…i!" The same blue ball appeared in my hand, and I charged forward. It was spiraling out of control, showing me my chakra was too low to keep it going for much longer. "Bring it on, bitch!" Itachi flared his sharingans as soon as my palm made contact with his chest. My chidori was ripping him in half, and he fired off the genjutsu. The resulting force created an explosion so large, so immense, that it created a 4.6 magnitude earthquake throughout the Land of Fire. I found myself staring up at the sky, dizzy from the battle. I forced myself up, and saw Itachi on the ground in front of me, torn in half. I looked around for my teammates. Kakashi, Sakura, and Shikamaru were all lying in their original positions, knocked out from the explosion and their battle wounds.

"Ha-ha…" hissed a voice behind me. I spun around, and saw the entire Akatsuki tribe standing directly in front of me. The one standing in front was clapping. I couldn't see his face, but I did know one thing: he was the leader. "I am Pein, the leader of Akatsuki. I saw you take out Kisame and Itachi. Very well done. I'll make this offer once: would you like to join the Akatsuki?"

"No, you rat bastard!" I yelled. "How dare you get involved in this war!"

"Hah! …We were simply hired by Otogakure to take down Konoha. The rest is none of our business. This is not for Otogakure at all. This is a personal vendetta. In fact, after Konoha is destroyed, every village will crumble because they won't have anyone left to save them. In fact, right after we destroyed you, we were going to take out Otogakure…I'll give you another offer: join us or die!" spat Pein rudely. He was pissed at my apparent arrogance. It wasn't arrogance, though. It was pride. Pride for my people, and for my village.

"Well, then you might as well kill me!" I shouted.

"Fine then," Pein stated. He flashed several hand signs and yelled something I couldn't quite understand. The earth in front of me cracked in half and water filled the crevice, creating a deep river. I realized what he was doing, and I proceeded to do the same. We both flashed the same hand signs at the same speed, and yelled almost as if the whole thing had been practiced ceremoniously,

"Water Style! Water Dragon jutsu!"

Two spirals of water that closely resembled dragons, even to the most minute details, exploded in a tremendous fashion out of the river. Each of us had one dragon to fight with. Whoever's dragon lost first would be killed by the opponent's. Pein's dragon flew wildly towards me. I jumped into the air, and yelled, "Wind Style! Tornado Wind Shuriken no jutsu!" Wind began rushing in between my hands, forming the shape of a windmill shuriken which I weakly lifted up into the air, due to the enormous amount of chakra I had used in this battle, and threw it down at the dragon. It cut off the 'head' of the water dragon, and the dragon's body withdrew into the river yet again. My dragon had been destroyed as well, but that made me and Pein even. I landed back onto the ground, already thinking about my next move. Just then, Pein's dragon popped up again and flew towards me. I had no time to move. But, suddenly, Kakashi jumped in front of me, and took the blow for me. The dragon impaled him, and its teeth were gnashing at me in a raging bloodlust after missing its intended target.

"Kakashi!" I cried out in anguish.

"Ikanobori…" he muttered. He was still weak. Why did he take that hit for me? He could barely fight after Kisame removed his chakra from him, so why did he even bother saving me? "Get out of here…call in for backup. We can't hold off the rest of the Akatsuki…please…"

"…" I was shocked. Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja, one of the most renowned ninja throughout the world, had just paid the ultimate price for me. A simple chunin in his squad. He'd led many squads before, and he'd seen his own men die, some of them young chunin such as myself. Why did he sacrifice himself for me, specifically? Why not Sasuke? He had more talent than me. Why not anyone else? "Why did you do it Kakashi?!"

"Ikanobori…" he laughed. "Don't worry about such trivial things…we lost the battle, you lost me. Don't worry…just…" he hacked up blood, which forced him to muster up the strength to remove his mask. The water dragon was still holding strong, and was caught in Kakashi's torso stubbornly, like a big splinter underneath the skin. "Just get backup, okay?" I saw his face. He was a handsome man. Although he was pushing 35 years old, his face resembled that of a man in his mid twenties. Pein walked towards Kakashi, and withdrew two katana from the sheathes tied to his back. He bought his arms back, preparing to shove them directly into Kakashi to finish him off.

"Ready to die, Kakashi Hatake?" hissed Pein.

"Not just…" Kakashi coughed, spewing blood onto Pein's robe. Pein scowled, noticing Kakashi had done it out of spite. "Yet," he finished his sentence. Kakashi pried open his clenched fist, and yelled, "Rasengan!" Wind sloshed around in his palm until a dark blue ball appeared, spiraling madly. So this was the legendary move the Hokage taught him. Interesting. Pein was too close to escape. Even though he tried, Kakashi grabbed him, and pulled him forward. "I want to see your damn face before we meet in hell…"

"No!" shouted Pein. "Let go!" Kakashi smashed the Rasengan into Pein. He screamed in pain, but managed to shove the katana through Kakashi's kidneys. The Rasengan caused a small explosion, sending Pein flying through the air, and impaling him on a tree. He was dead. "Damn you…Kakashi Hatake…"

"You too, asshole…" Kakashi smiled, as his eyes closed and he took in his last breath. As the old proverb goes, an eye for an eye, etc. I smiled. Kakashi's corpse was smiling, even as the water dragon dissipated and he fell onto the ground with a 12 inch hole in his stomach. He didn't care he was dead. He had done what needed to be done in his lifetime. Accomplished everything. Nothing left for him to do, except fight. What did it matter if he died? I began laughing, maniacally. I pointed at the rest of the Akatsuki, and smirked.

"It's your turn now. Ready to face the wrath of Konoha?" The Hokage and hundreds of Konoha soldiers appeared behind me.

"Sure," replied Konan, the only female member of the group. "You ready to face the wrath of Otogakure?" Thousands of Otogakure troops appeared from the trees behind them.


End file.
